Just Me
by BloomingViolets
Summary: SPD. Sydney has been treated like a celebrity all her life, but is it what she really wants?


**Just Me**

**Character: Syd**

**Word Count: 990**

**Summary: Sydney has been treated like a celebrity all her life, but is it what she really wants?**

**Timeline: Set before 'Beginnings'**

**For the 'I Never Thought My Life Would Turn Out Like This' challenge at LiveJournal :)**

I had it all, you know. I had accomplished what people could've only dreamed of in my short life. Made more money with one performance than all the people in Africa did in a year. My mother had my life planned from the start. Being that my parents were well known, I lived in a world filled with parties, cameras, and glamour. I was told to look a certain way, behave a certain way and say certain things. I was a sweetheart, I was pretty, and everyone wanted to be me.

It wasn't what I wanted.

I wanted to be normal. To laugh and to play. To be free. To be me.

Of course, I wasn't sure who _me _was. There were so many different parts to me that I lost track of who I really was. I was an Olympian – a diver. For three years, I trained to be the best. I won two gold medals, three silvers, in a span of a year.

I was only fifteen.

When I was sixteen, I made the front cover of the fashion magazine _Vogue_. I was a model. All the publicity, the fame, it invaded my life. My parents were thrilled. Their little girl was getting very popular, getting into big things, and traveling the world.

Not to mention I was bringing in more money with each passing day.

I was not happy.

I had my first try at singing when I was seventeen. And what do you know, my album sold millions. I was in the spot light more than ever and traveling the world, doing tours and whatnot. And at that point, I was seriously thinking of ending my life. The money, the fame, the high society life, it wasn't what I wanted. I felt trapped.

I wanted to be free. I wanted to live my own life on my own terms. I wanted to help people, and I don't mean donating tons of money to charities year round either. I wanted to wake up late, wear no makeup, dance, and play. I wanted to study, to read, and to achieve my own dreams.

I wanted to be me.

The flyer for SPD couldn't have come at a better time.

When I saw that piece of paper hanging thumb tacked to a post, it was like a light was shining a way through a dark tunnel. I signed up for SPD the very next day.

My parents were furious of course. To them, SPD was like a military training course. And maybe it was, after all, people were trained to fight evil on a daily basis. But for once, I did what I wanted and arrived an hour early on the first day.

Training was hell.

I guess I was a bit delusional when I joined. It was nothing that I was used too. The basic training itself was probably the hardest thing that I ever had to do. The course lasted a month and I was a disaster right from the start. Thankfully, the years of being a diver and all the dance steps that I had to learn while I was on tour taught me agility and grace and I was able to make it through the first week of training. My test scores were below average and my body was sore every single night.

Lucky for me, I was stubborn. I stuck by it and within two weeks my test scores were some of the best in the class! I graduated basic training and even made it onto C-Squad!

I trained and trained hard. I guess Commander Cruger was impressed with my determination because a month later, I was promoted to B-Squad. From what I heard, it was the next step to becoming a ranger.

I was so nervous the first day I met my new teammates. Would they like me? Would they judge me based on my past? Were they nice? I wanted badly to make a good impression and I was so scared that I almost threw up that morning. I stood with Commander Cruger, fidgeting while I waited. The doors slid open and in walked two male cadets. My eyes landed on the taller one first and I gulped. He looked tough and unfriendly by all means, his face had a strict expression, and to be honest, he looked really scary. My eyes then traveled to his shorter companion and I relaxed a bit. This one looked a lot friendlier. And nicer. I returned the smile that he flashed at me.

"Cadets, this is Sydney Drew. She is your new teammate and I expect you to treat her as such."

Commander Cruger left me alone with them after that. I don't think that big blue dog even realized how frightened I was.

The shorter guy took a step toward me and offered a gloved hand. "Hi, I'm Bridge! And this is Sky. Welcome to B-Squad!"

I shyly smiled. "Hi."

**-x-x-x-**

It's almost been a year since that day. I'm eighteen now, and one fifth of the B-Squad Power Rangers. Bridge has become my absolute best friend. And Sky? Well, I'm no longer afraid of him, his bark is much worse than his bite. In fact, I treat him like a cuddly teddy bear because I know it annoys him. It's fun! To them, I'm not Sydney Drew, I'm just Syd. The three of us have been training together for almost a year, and even though Sky and I irritate each other a couple times a day, I know in my heart I would do anything for those two. We're still getting to know Jack and Z; they just joined our team two nights ago.

And even though, I'm not used to having Jack and Z around, I know my life can't get any better than this. No more flashy cameras, no more photographers, no more society parties.

I get to be myself.

Just me.


End file.
